How Can You Place a Bet on eSports?

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Sports betting has many unique complexities. Unless you’re prepared to simply throw your money at a team you’ll need to learn about under/over, odds and other details of sports betting, regardless of whether you’re wagering at a retail or online casino sportsbook.

In the same way that betting is an accepted way to show your support for a specific player or team in traditional sports, it’s also true in the world of esports. eSports involves video game competitions where teams compete digitally against one another in video gaming events. Just a few short years ago, hardly any fans considered betting on esports but today, with the rising popularity of digital gaming, combined with the difficulties that traditional sports’ schedules have endured with the pandemic, esports betting is now featured at sportsbooks around the world.

Placing a wager on an esports event isn’t very different from placing a bet on a football or basketball game. There are, however, some tips that will help you get the most out of your esports betting action.

eSports

Video gaming started to become popular in the ‘70s and by the ‘80s, video game arcades could be found in almost every city and town. When console gaming became popular in the ‘90s, it became possible for players to collaborate and that led to the first esports tournaments. The esports tournaments of the ‘90s were relatively simple – audiences were small and prizes were non-monetary. Esports tournaments continued to be held in convention centers until the COVID pandemic hit but while other sporting events were cancelled, esports tournaments simply moved online.

IN many ways, even without COVID, competitions would have moved online. The number of participating teams was increasing from one year to the next and live streaming technology made it a relatively simple matter to run everything digitally. One of the biggest changes has been the increasing difficulty of participation – whereas once, almost anyone could sign up to compete in a tournament, today tournaments age generally open only to teams who have made it through the qualifying stages.

Betting

eSports has become a huge spectator sport. Sportsbooks have almost all added esports to their lists of sporting events and analysts believe that esports tournament bets will soon rival that of wagers placed on NFL games.

There are a number of types of basic esports bets. They include:

• Betting on the team that is predicted to win the tournament. This bet is harder to win than with traditional sports because there are so many participating teams.
• Bets on teams that have some type of handicap.
• Bets on team victories in certain cards – “result on cards”.
• Bets on the team that will pass the qualifier or take a higher place in the standings.
• Bets on the total number of points that are made by one of the teams or by both teams.

Many betting shops often put up odds with high margins, even when they aren’t indicated, because they are still relatively unfamiliar with esports. Today esports betters can often take advantage of this gap. It’s also possible to find bookmakers who give lines or accept draws with valuable markets.

Similarities and Differences

There are a number of similarities between esports betting and traditional sports betting but there are differences as well.

There are many eSports titles that features robust competitive scenes – i.e. League of Legends, Dota 2, Overwatch CS:GO and more. There have traditionally been a mixture of knockout and league formats in tournaments such as the double-elimination GSL format in DOTA 2 and CS:GO. There’s also a league system such as that showcased by the Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues. That combination of titles changes the betting field in the tournaments which means that bettors must be aware of whether the competition is league-based or otherwise structured.

Also, the formats are different than those of traditional sporting events whose leagues organize the playoffs that determine which players will compete in the final tournament. The traditional sports leagues favor that format because it gives control to the team franchises who realize better profits while holding fans’ interest.

Types of eSports Bets

Traditionally, sports bets involve a money line wager along with a few handicaps. Options for bettors are limited but clear. In esports betting, it’s possible to wager on smaller handicap bets such as, in a first-person shooter for instance, a defuse handicap, a bomb plant handicap, a round handicap, etc.

eSports Betting Tips

Traditional sports betting allows you to wager on basic outcomes -- number of goals scored, total score, number of baskets made, etc. If you’re betting on esports you have more options which gives you more chances to win more money. HOWEVER, you need to research your bet well and time it properly.

This is especially true regarding injuries and fatigue. You should watch carefully to see which team players seem to be exhibiting improper posture or watch their streams to find out who is working out regularly and who is not.

Exercising wrists and hands is of particular importance and if you read the team’s press releases and watch the team’s streams you can determine whether the team has staffers such as nutritionists and physiotherapists to see to the players’ health. The healthier the team members, the better you can expect them to perform!

As with conventional sports, you can always just bet on a preferred team but if you are betting with the aim of winning, it’s best to wager only on games with which you are familiar. There’s a wide difference between games and every game and every game genre has its own rules and nuances. The better you know the game, the better you’ll be familiar with those elements and the better your assessments will be as you place your bets.

The more effort you put into following a team’s statistics and data, the better you’ll understand how the team will perform. Watch out for information about injuries and even about personal issues that might impact on a player’s performance. This is just as true with esports as it is regarding traditional sports – the importance of each team member on the team’s overall performance cannot be overstated.

The better that you understand the game, the better you’ll be able to assess the teams’ patterns of behavior in different situations. Watch recordings of the team’s previous games to get a feel for the team. One of the most important elements of a team’s performance is the age of team members – research shows that a person’s reaction time decreases with age so the older the team members are, the less likely they will be to react as quickly as the other team.